Gov. Snyder signs Medicaid expansion legislation

Gov. Rick Snyder checked off one of the major priorities of his first term on Monday, signing into law a measure that will make hundreds of thousands of state residents eligible for Medicaid.

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By AP

Ionia Sentinel - Standard-Ionia, MI

By AP

Posted Sep. 16, 2013 at 11:03 PM

By AP
Posted Sep. 16, 2013 at 11:03 PM

DEARBORN, Mich.

Gov. Rick Snyder checked off one of the major priorities of his first term on Monday, signing into law a measure that will make hundreds of thousands of state residents eligible for Medicaid.

Snyder's signature at the ceremony at Oakwood Hospital in Dearborn makes Michigan the largest state controlled by Republicans to support a key component of the new federal health care law.

It will expand the government health insurance program to almost a half-million Michigan residents within a few years, nearly halving the state's uninsured. An estimated 320,000 are expected to be eligible in the spring if the federal government approves the plan.

"This is something that's really important. This is about the health of our fellow Michiganders," Snyder said to applause prior to the bill signing, noting that "we didn't do anything about it for many years."

Medicaid expansion is part of a strategy to ensure that nearly all Americans have health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. It was designed to cover the neediest uninsured people yet became optional for states because of a Supreme Court decision.

Many GOP-led states opposed to the law have declined the expansion, despite the U.S. government promising to cover the entire cost for the first three years and 90 percent later. Michigan becomes just the third state where the GOP also controls the Legislature to accept it — joining Arizona and North Dakota.

Republican-drawn cost-sharing provisions in the Michigan legislation, along with financial incentives to lead healthy lifestyles, still require federal approval.

"I literally just signed the bill," Snyder told The Associated Press when asked about a timetable for the U.S. signing off on Michigan's plan. "We had a lot of what I would describe as 'pre-signing discussions,' and they've gone very much in a positive fashion.

"It could be the latter part of the year, but, yes, we're going to hopefully move through this quickly."

The program already covers one in five Michigan residents, mainly low-income children, pregnant women, the disabled and some poorer working adults. The expansion will cover adults making up to 133 percent of the poverty level — $15,500 for an individual, $26,500 for a family of three.

The bill, dubbed "Healthy Michigan" by its supporters, was not without controversy. It endured many fits and starts before earning a key bipartisan vote by the state House the day after Labor Day.

"The ... bill was kind of hot. Nobody else wanted to pick it up," Rep. Matt Lori, R-Constantine, the bill's sponsor, said to laughs from the health care professionals, lawmakers and others who packed a room inside the hospital for Monday's event.

Snyder and a coalition of backers ranging from the business and medical lobbies to advocates for the poor say offering health insurance to more low-income residents will make them healthier and minimize expensive trips to the emergency room, preventing cost-shifting to businesses and individuals with health plans.

Page 2 of 2 - Opponents have questioned what they see as a big government expansion when the U.S. is deeply in debt and are suspicious of the governor's money-saving claims. Tea party and conservative activists plan to oppose Snyder's expected re-election run next year because of his push to expand Medicaid coverage.

The state's uninsured, who stand to benefit from Public Act 107 of 2013, could have been covered as early as Jan. 1. But the state Senate fell short of putting the law into effect immediately.

Now, they'll have to wait until around April 1 at the earliest.

Low-income adults without health coverage in January will not have to worry about incurring tax penalties, however. The federal government has decided not to penalize residents in states that decline to expand Medicaid.